CAMPAIGN 2012

Women Kick Obama Into Lead Over Romney - Poll

By National Journal Staff

Women have helped push President Obama into his most significant lead yet over Republican front-runner Mitt Romney, according to a Gallup/USA Today Poll published on Sunday. It shows the president leading Romney 51 percent to 42 percent among registered voters in swing states.

According to the poll of 933 registered voters, women under 50 have swung over to Obama: More than 60 percent support him now, compared with less than half of this group in February. Meanwhile, their support of Romney has dropped 14 points to 30 percent.

"The focus on contraception has not been a good one for us … and Republicans have unfairly taken on water on this issue,” USA Today quotes Sara Taylor Fagen, a Republican strategist and former political adviser to former president George W. Bush, as saying.

According to the poll, 41 percent of women identify as Democrats and just 24 percent as Republicans.